


I Better Get an A for Dealing with this.

by bottomsup



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Multichapter, maybe slowburn, posie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-06 14:44:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17347127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bottomsup/pseuds/bottomsup
Summary: After posie breakup and 1x06. Josie gets so flustered and distracted by Penelope in class that she doesn't realize they are in the same group project group until it's too late. She's stuck doing the biggest project of the year with her sister, their shared crush, and an ex that she's definitely not over yet.  It's gonna be multiple chapters filled with some angst and fluff.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First multi-chapter fic! Give me feedback/questions/suggestions if you have any! I'll try to finish next chapter tomorrow.  
> As always, my twitter is @posie_stan

“And that’s why Latin can also be tricky. You need to know how to translate things rather than transliterate. If you don’t use the proper syntax and pronunciation, your spell can go completely wrong and they have the potential to be dangerous.” Professor D lectured the class, sweeping his hands over various dictionaries and thesauruses. 

In the middle of the class, there sat a dark haired girl with mischievous eyes twirling a string of her hair around her finger, doing anything but actually listening to her teacher. After a few increasingly lame jokes from her teacher, followed by the groans of her classmates, she began to tap the eraser of her pencil against the desk in a gentle rhythm, quiet to everyone except the girl in front of her. The girl in front of her seemed to be paying a little too much attention to the lecturer, growing increasingly annoyed at the tapping coming from behind her. Worse than the tapping itself was the girl making the dreaded noise- Penelope Park, her ex girlfriend. She could constantly feel her eyes analyzing her, scorching the back of her brain. As she tried to focus harder, busying her mind so she didn’t have to think about whatever Penelope was doing to distract her. She hated herself for allowing Penelope to keep her from studying, it felt like she was wedged under her skin and nothing could get her out. Josie realized that she was thinking of her ex yet again and quickly snapped back into reality with the mention of her name.

“Josie?” Hope snapped her fingers in front of the girls face. “Answer the question”

Josie surveyed the world around her, only to be met with countless pairs of confused eyes. “I….uh…..I’m sorry, what?” Josie choked out, looking like a fish out of water due to how flustered she was. She rapidly checked the board and then looked around at everyone else’s book to see what page they were on.  
“I asked what the answer was” her teacher rolled his eyes and looked back at her. She didn’t even know what the question was, let alone how to answer it. Then out of nowhere a soft but raspy voice came from behind her  
“Just say protego.” Penelope whispered, barely loud enough to be heard by Josie. Josie didn’t want to trust the girl, but there wasn’t much else that she could say, and everyone’s eyes were growing more critical. They were all looking at her, and Josie hated the attention. 

“Protego?” Josie stated, more of a question than a fact. 

“Correct, Saltzman. Maybe next time say it with a little more confidence when you’re right.”

Josie sighed and sunk back into her chair, allowing the feeling of relief to flood over her as students directed their attention back to the board.

“You’re welcome for that.” Penelope said behind her, louder than a whisper but low enough that the teacher wouldn’t hear her.

Josie whipped around in her chair, fuming. Her eyes hooded with annoyance met the smug eyes of Penelope, who was wearing a smirk along with her uniform. Hell, she wore that smirk so much around Josie it might as well be A PART of her uniform. 

“Are you crazy? I’m not going to thank you for telling me the answer. If you hadn’t distracted me, then I would’ve been paying attention and could’ve figured it out on my own!” Josie whispered harshly, as close to yelling as she could get without gaining the attention of anyone around her. 

“Oh, I distract you? I mean, what can I say, I do have that effect on people. Especially you, Jo.” Penelope drew out her sentence, her voice softening a little when she got to the last word. She could never spit out that name as an insult, even if she wanted to. It wasn’t quite the same as her nickname for the girl from when they were dating, but she had always saved “JoJo” for intimate moments, like the first time they said I love you or whenever they talked about their feelings. Even if she was messing with Josie, some things were better not to touch. 

Josie’s eyes widened and her eyebrows furrowed. “That’s not...I wasn’t….No! If you weren’t tapping your pencil so loudly, I wouldn’t be distracted. The pencil distracted me, not you. Don’t be so full of yourself.” Josie spat, gaining her composure after being so rattled. 

“I mean I’d rather be full of you, but I don’t think that’s on the table.” Josie immediately felt the blood rise to her cheeks and ears, flushing her entire face with warmth and painting it a light red. She broke eye contact and looked at the floor. Seconds felt agonizing as she tried to think of a quippy response. “You know what I mean” Josie forced out, trying to diffuse the situation and keep Penelope from gaining power. She slid around in her chair before Penelope could get the satisfaction of making her nervous and awkward, glueing her eyes to the board just in time to see Professor D writing “GROUP PROJECTS” in black marker. 

Directly under that, he wrote her name, then Lizzie’s, followed by Rafael, and finally.. Oh no. No no no no. Josie felt panic flare up inside of her. She wondered what she had done to the world to deserve this. Had she not made everyone around her happy? Had she not done her best in life? She closed her eyes tightly, convincing herself that when she opened them, she would wake up from this nightmare, or maybe things would change. But as she opened her eyes she saw it clear as day.

Josie Saltzman  
Lizzie Saltzman  
Rafael Waithe  
Penelope Park 

Penelope leaned forward and Josie could feel her breath on her ear. “I’m excited to work with you, partner.” Josie felt her heart beating in her throat. The more Josie thought about it, the more overwhelmed and upset she got. It shouldn’t even be a big deal, but this group was the perfect storm of misery. Part of her wanted to yell at Professor D, part of her wanted to just run out of class, but most of her just wanted to collapse into a warm bed. As she thought about every possible solution and situation that could come out of this, she felt her heart hurt. Every beat felt like a knife in her chest, growing larger every second, stabbing deeper into her. She stared at the floor and breathed in shallow breaths, unsure if her lungs could even work after her stomach dropped so far. Penelope softened up a little as she saw Josie tense up and clench her jaw. A tiny little vein showed itself on her neck, and Penelope instantly knew something was wrong with her. She may not be Josie’s favorite person, but she was basically the world’s leading expert on all things Josie Saltzman. “Are you okay, JoJo?” She tenderly asked and placed a hand on her shoulder. Josie stayed silent, but she felt her muscles release involuntarily. Penelope always calmed her down, even when she was one of the reasons for her to be upset. 

“I’m fine. Just tired.” she didn’t have enough energy to make what she said sound true, and even if she could, Penelope would see right through it. She leaned back a little into her desk chair and into Penelope’s hand, and Penelope began to run her thumb in tiny circles, trying to calm the girl down and reassure her she was okay. Josie let herself cave in for a minute then immediately jerked back up when she felt Penelope squeeze her shoulder. What was she doing? Why would she let herself cave in so easily to being comforted by Penelope? There’s a reason people sell their souls to the devil- desire feels so easy and right that it's hard to reject what you want, even if its bad for you. 

She just kept running her hands through her hair as she thought things over. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad. It was just a project that counted for 20% of their grade. Plus, she gets to do it with her sister. And her sister’s crush, who happened to also be Josie’s secret crush. And Josie’s not so secret ex, who she still loved, but who Lizzie could not stand. 

Maybe a C in the class wouldn’t be such a bad thing.


	2. Caramel Coffee and an uncomfortable study session

Josie basically sprinted back to her room as soon as the bell had rung. She opened her door, groaned, and flopped down onto her bed. She laid there still for a moment before Lizzie burst through the door, in a manic happiness. 

“Josie? Do you realize what this means? I have an entire month to spend with Raf and a reason to hang out with him all the time. Of course, Satan will have to be there, but maybe you could distract her and I could hang with Raf… I don’t need to plan the logistics right now, but still! This is the one instance that the world has finally given me what I deserve!” 

Josie stifled another groan. Of course Lizzie was getting what she wanted, but Josie really questioned whether the world was rewarding Lizzie or punishing her. It didn’t really matter though, because Josie was going to do whatever Lizzie wanted. She was her twin, after all, and if anyone deserved a happy ending, or beginning rather, it was her. Lizzie didn’t need to know how much suffering Josie was about to go through for her.

“Yeah, that’s great.” Josie piped in, eyes avoiding her sister. “Maybe we could all just stick together. That way I’m there so I can make sure Penelope isn’t distracting you and that Raf doesn’t suspect we’re setting him up with you.”

“That’s fine for now I guess. Eventually, though, he’ll realize that the alpha should be with the HWIC. We should all get dinner tonight to talk over a schedule. I’m thinking something romantic.. Candlelight, music, maybe Italian.” Lizzie pondered

“I’m thinking the library. Coffee and vending machine snacks, well lit, sounds like a study date and not a date date” Josie countered “I don’t think you want to freak him out this early on. Maybe just start small and get him to like you, and then you can pull your moves.”

“I guess that’ll work. Make a groupchat and tell them the details. 7:00 not 6:00. I don’t want to look desperate.” 

Josie looked at her with a confused look. “How is that…? What? I don- Okay yeah I will.”   
She grabbed her phone and sent out the text. She already had Rafael’s number in case he needed any help with Salvatore business, and Penelope… she tried to pretend she had deleted it. However, she couldn’t actually bring herself to delete it. Penelope might need her one day, or someone around her might need Penelope and she wasn’t going to risk that. As soon as she typed in “P” it came up first. She looked at her profile picture. It was a stunning picture of her smiling over her shoulder at Josie in some neon-lit diner. She deleted that photo from her phone, but there it remained in that tiny circle on her profile. Whatever, that didn’t even hurt her anymore. Josie typed and sent the message, 

“You all down to get coffee and study it up in the library? We can make a schedule for the project.” -Josie 4:01

tossing her phone on the bed beside her. She got up and slid on her hoodie, then sauntered back to take a nap. Immediately after she laid down, she got a response.

“I’ll, be there, but only if the coffee is free.” -Penelope, 4:06

Then Rafael and Lizzie chimed in.

“Sure sounds good.” -Rafael, 4:08

“I may be a few minutes late, but I’ll be there” -Lizzie, 4:09

Josie looked over at her twin. “Seriously? You’re the one that set the time! And you don’t have anything to do today.”

“Josie, you don’t know guys at all. I have to play hard to get. Last time I thought we were dating he told me that he was still mourning and didn’t like me. He still slept with me, though, so obviously he’s just conflicted. I have to make it seem like it’s his idea to like me.”

Josie rolled her eyes and shrugged. Josie didn’t understand the whole relationship battlefield Lizzie had built for herself, and she wasn’t about to step into it. Lizzie left to go study so that she could seem smart in front of Rafael, but Josie was still exhausted so she opted to stay in their room. She laid in her bed with her eyes closed for a while, listening to the silence of her room. Before too long, it was almost time to hit the books. She went downstairs sleepily and grabbed some coffee from the kitchen. She knew caffeine was a bad idea so late at night, but they were high schoolers and they would drink that liquid ambrosia any time of the day. Their sleep schedules were already fucked, so why not? She poured a caramel macchiato for Lizzie, an americano for Rafael, and a hazelnut latte for herself and Penelope. She made sure to put extra caramel into Penelope’s drink. Penelope didn’t really like caramel, usually she would just get her lattes with extra hazelnut, but Josie didn’t want Penelope to know Josie remembered her favorite drink. She also didn’t want Penelope to think she was going out of her way to make her a drink she would hate, because that would mean she remembered her likes and dislikes. This was the perfect drink to let Penelope know she wasn’t thinking about her. Even if she was.

She filled her arms with coffee and headed to the library. Luckily they had lids, if they didn’t Josie was positive she would’ve been wearing more coffee than hoodie. As she rounded the corner to the library, she almost bumped into Rafael. 

“Hey sorry. I picked up some coffee for us. Figured we might want to caffeinate before we plan everything.” Josie stumbled over her words awkwardly

Rafael grabbed two of the coffees that Josie was struggling to carry. “No problem. Yeah, cool. Which one’s mine?”

“The americano. I didn’t know what you liked so I just guessed.”

“This is fine.” Rafael chuckled. “I’m guessing the one with the L on the cup is Lizzie’s?”

“Yeah, she likes to label things that are hers.” Josie and Rafael walked to the nearest desk and set down all their supplies. They sat down and Rafael began to pull out some books. Josie smiled at Rafael and before she could speak another word, Penelope snagged a coffee out of her hand. “Perfect timing. I was getting bored waiting for you.” she stated with an overly dramatic sigh. 

“Penelope, we’re right on time?” Josie questioned, looking at her watch.

“If you’re not early, you’re late.” Penelope sat down and took a swig of her coffee. Josie rolled her eyes. Penelope always sprung up at the worst times. She comes around when Josie least expects it, she’s like some sly bartender than refills your glass right as you run out. 

“Well, some of us think that showing up at the decided time means you’re on time. Lizzie will be here soon, she had-stuff to do” Josie stumbled on the latter part of her sentence. She wasn’t really sure where Lizzie was, but she knew she’d make a grand entrance at some point.

“Too busy to come to her own study group? Sounds about right.” Penelope cooed

“It’s not like that she’s just busy.” 

“Busy letting you finish her homework as she finds another wolf to make her chew toy for the week?”

Rafael chimed in “I’m sure she’ll be here soon. We can just get started without her, she’ll catch up.” 

Josie clenched her jaw and grabbed her coffee, taking a long sip. Penelope pulled her book out in agreeance and took another sip of her drink. “Thanks, Josie, nice to know you remembered my favorite.”

“That’s not even your favorite! You get extra hazelnut not caramel!” Josie shot back, finally snapping from all the annoyance she’d been dealing with. 

Penelope smirked smugly. Josie slowly realized what Penelope had done, and she had just admitted to not only remembering her favorite drink, but purposely not getting it. Ugh, why did Penelope know her so well? 

Rafael looked back and forth at the two girl and then down at his book. “Okay well let’s get started. I don’t really know much about Advanced Species Government and Civics, but I can try my best.”

Penelope rolled her eyes. “Well, I’ve already started an outline and drawn a topographical map of supernatural boundaries. You guys can look it over and tell me where I’m wrong or change things or whatever. I just thought it’d be helpful to have roots for the project to make it run by faster.” 

Josie bit the inside of her lip. Of course Penelope was being smart and helpful. She was extremely intelligent and great at classwork, she didn’t know what else she expected from her. She tried to shake off all these feelings in her head and started reading. 

Lizzie showed up soon after and began to pull the focus of the group from studying to flirting. As it ended up, Josie and Penelope were doing all the work and Rafael had to face the brunt of Lizzie’s flirtatious chit chat. He looked like a deer in headlights and would often try to work alongside Penelope and Josie, but he hadn’t been in classes at the Salvatore school before and didn’t really know what they were talking about. When it finally came time to leave, the group had a clear schedule with personal deadlines and topic ideas. They all said their goodbyes save for Penelope, who had just kind of disappeared. Lizzie offered to walk Rafael back to his dorm, which he reluctantly accepted since he wasn’t really sure where his new dorm was. They had to move him away from Jed’s dorm after the incident with Landon, and Rafael trying to kick his ass afterwards. 

As Josie walked back to the kitchen to rinse out their coffee cups, she felt a presence next to her. She looked up and Penelope began washing the cups for her. Josie was annoyed and speechless and as she began to tell her off, a familiar voice spoke out.

“Hey, Jo. Need an escort to the dorms?”


End file.
